re:My Fear of Flying
This is in reply to Kev writing about his fears of flying.
The first time I flew was also the first time I left the country. In September of 2012 my mother dropped me off at Columbus International Airport for a morning flight destined to Narita International Airport. I was fucking terrified.
I was so inside of my own head with fears of flying I nearly missed my flight. The loudspeakers called out my name for a final boarding call...I was sitting right in front of the gate, completely oblivious to the fact that the whole plane had boarded. Once I was in the air, my fears started to ease as the excitement at experiencing air travel started to take over. It also helped that I had my first (and second) legal beer (after the stewardess confirmed we were safely over Canada).
I flew semi frequently after that, yearly trips to Mexico, visiting family (and getting married) in China, etc. Flying became normal, and my fears were mostly gone. But after my son was born nearly 4 years ago, we stopped traveling.
Last year, my wife and I were lucky enough to visit family in Australia for 2-weeks. That flight was terrifying for me. I'm not sure what changed, but I could not stop thinking of how high and vulnerable one is when flying. I calmed my nerves a bit with bad in-flight movies, but was still extremely relieved when we finally landed.
During our 2 weeks in Australia, the D.C. AA 5342 disaster occurred, which was in addition to reduced/overworked ATC staffing due to "government efficiency". That was an extremely terrifying flight home, my hands were completely covered in sweat as we finally landed.
I haven't flown since, admittedly less due to fear and more due to having a second kid now keeping us even busier. I did opt-out of attending a conference that would require air travel though.
I'm sure I'll have to fly again within the next year or so, potentially to China. I'm curious where my comfort level will sit, if I had to guess I would say somewhere in the middle of calm and terrified.